Characterization of a natural surfactant from an essential oil from neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) for textile industry applications

• Published in: Textile research journal 2022-08, Vol.92 (15-16), p.2643-2650
• Main Authors: Sá, Christiane Siqueira de Azevedo, Ladchumananandasivam, Rasiah, Rossi, Cátia G. F. T., Silva, Rita K da, Camboim, Wilka da Silva, Zille, Andrea, Padrão, Jorge, Silva, Késia K. de Oliveira Souto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Azadirachta indica; Bactericidal; Bactericidal activity; COVID-19; Detergents; E coli; Engenharia dos Materiais; Engenharia e Tecnologia; Environmental degradation; Essential oils; Foaming; Industrial applications; Micelles; Neem; Neem oil; Nosocomial infection; Pandemics; Petrochemicals; Public health; Saponification; Science & Technology; Surfactant; Surfactants; Textile industry
• ISSN: 0040-5175; 1746-7748
• DOI: 10.1177/00405175211007518

Surfactants are multipurpose active compounds and are ubiquitously present in detergents. Detergent demand spiked due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, further alerting to the need to replace petrochemical synthetic surfactants with natural and renewable surfactants to mitigate further environmental damage. The neem tree (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) is a fast-growing tree that provides a multitude of commodities, namely neem oil. Neem oil possesses insecticidal and medicinal activity. This work reports the extraction and characterization of a surfactant from neem oil (SNO), displaying a yield of approximately 100%. SNO exhibited suitable detergent characteristics with a high potential to be used as a cleansing agent for textile applications, such as high pH value (10.1), suitable foaming of 1.5 cm and a critical micelle concentration of nearly 0.12 g mL−1. In addition, SNO showed a moderate bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli and bacteriostatic activity against Staphylococcus aureus, both common nosocomial pathogens. Therefore, SNO has a good potential to be used in medical textile applications due to its detergent and bactericidal properties. Finally, an economical overview of the SNO production process was assessed, underscoring its viability. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Brazilian Coordenacao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior and by the Portuguese Fundacao para Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional and Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao in the frame of the Portugal 2020 program for the project PLASMAMED PTDC/CTM-TEX/28295/2017.